Icemaker in refrigerator

ABSTRACT

An icemaker in a refrigerator is disclosed, by which heat generated from a heater to detach ice is prevented from being transferred to an inside of the refrigerator. The present invention includes an icemaker body provided to a prescribed position of the refrigerator to make to ice from a supplied water, a heater provided to the icemaker body to generate heat to facilitate detachment of the made ice, and a heater shielding unit provided to prevent the heat generated from the heater from being supplied to an inside of the refrigerator.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.11/747,504, filed May 11, 2007, now allowed, which claims the benefit ofa foreign priority application filed in Korea as Serial No.10-2006-0043022 on May 12, 2006, both of which are incorporated byreference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a refrigerator, and more particularly,to an icemaker in a refrigerator. Although the present invention issuitable for a wide scope of applications, it is particularly suitablefor making ice in a refrigerator.

2. Discussion of the Related Art

Generally, a refrigerator is a device for storing food at a lowtemperature. The refrigerator is a home appliance for storing food in afrozen or cold state and tends to have a large scale withmulti-functions to meet various kinds of consumer's tastes and theenhanced standard of living. Moreover, various convenient devices areprovided to a refrigerator and internal configurations of refrigeratorare diversified to fit the user's tastes and usages.

An icemaker in a refrigerator according to the present invention isapplicable to various refrigerator configurations. In the followingdescription, a bottom freezer type refrigerator, of which body ispartitioned into upper and lower parts respectively corresponding to acool chamber and a freezing chamber, is taken as an example for thedescription.

FIG. 1 is a front diagram of an exterior of a general refrigerator.

Referring to FIG. 1, a body 100 of a refrigerator approximately has arectangular parallelepiped shape. An internal space of the body 100 ispartitioned into upper and lower parts to configure a cooling chamber110 and a freezing chamber 115.

A refrigerator door 120 is provided to an opening of a front side of thebody 100. The refrigerator door 120 is provided to selectivelyopen/close the open front side of the body 100, and more particularly,open front sides of the cooling and freezing chambers 110 and 115 andincludes a cooling chamber door 122 and a freezing chamber door 128.

The cooling chamber door 122 selectively opens/closes the coolingchamber 110 provided to the upper part of the body 100. Like doors of aside-by-side type refrigerator, a pair of cooling chamber doors 122 areprovided to left and right sides and rotatably configured to selectivelyopen/close the cooling chamber 110 centering on both side axes,respectively.

And, the freezing chamber door 128 is provided to selectively open/closethe freezing chamber 115 provided to the lower part of the body 100 andconfigured to have a drawer shape. So, the freezing chamber door 128slides in or out back and forth to selectively open/close the freezingchamber 115.

Meanwhile, a dispenser 130 is provided to one of the left and rightcooling chamber doors 122 opening/closing the cooling chamber 110. Thedispenser 130 facilitates purified water or ice to be taken out withoutopening the cooling chamber door 122 and is provided to be exposed to afront side of the cooling chamber door 122.

FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram of a backside of a cooling chamber doorshown in FIG. 1, in which an icemaker 10 provided to the backside of thecooling chamber door is shown.

Referring to FIG. 2, an ice-making room 140 is provided to a backside ofthe door 122 provided with the dispenser 130. and, an icemaker 10 isprovided within the ice-making room 140 to make ice.

The ice-making room 140 is configured with a part recessed into an innercase 124 configuring the backside of the door 122. The ice-making room140 is selectively open/close by an ice-making room door 148 rotatablyprovided to one side.

The icemaker 10 making ice, an ice bank 144 storing the ice made by theicemaker 10, and a transferring device 146 transferring the stored iceto a taking-out part of the dispenser 130 are provided within theice-making room 140. And, they are directly assembled to an innerlateral side of the ice-making room 140, i.e., to the inner case 124.

However, the related art icemaker has the following problems.

First of all, the related art icemaker includes a heater to facilitatethe ice to be separated. Yet, if heat from the heater is radiated intothe refrigerator, objects stored at low temperature within therefrigerator are heated.

Secondly, if the heat from the heater is supplied into the refrigerator,the refrigerator is overloaded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Accordingly, the present invention is directed to an icemaker in arefrigerator that substantially obviates one or more problems due tolimitations and disadvantages of the related art.

An object of the present invention is to provide an icemaker in arefrigerator, by which heat generated from a heater to detach ice isprevented from being transferred to an inside of the refrigerator.

Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will beset forth in part in the description which follows and in part willbecome apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art uponexamination of the following or may be learned from practice of theinvention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may berealized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in thewritten description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.

To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with thepurpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, anicemaker, which is provided to a refrigerator to make ice, according tothe present invention includes an icemaker body provided to a prescribedposition of the refrigerator to make to ice from a supplied water, aheater provided to the icemaker body to generate heat to facilitatedetachment of the made ice, and a heater shielding unit provided toprevent the heat generated from the heater from being supplied to aninside of the refrigerator.

Therefore, the present invention can prevent heat generated from aheater to detach ice from the icemaker from being transferred to aninside of the refrigerator.

It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description andthe following detailed description of the present invention areexemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide furtherexplanation of the invention as claimed.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are included to provide a furtherunderstanding of the invention and are incorporated in and constitute apart of this application, illustrate embodiment(s) of the invention andtogether with the description serve to explain the principle of theinvention. In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a front diagram of an exterior of a refrigerator according toa related art;

FIG. 2 is a perspective diagram of a backside of a cooling chamber doorshown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram of an icemaker in a refrigeratoraccording to one embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a perspective diagram of a backside of the icemaker shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a perspective diagram of an icemaker in a refrigeratoraccording to another embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 6 is a perspective diagram of a backside of the icemaker shown inFIG. 5.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Reference will now be made in detail to the preferred embodiments of thepresent invention, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings. Wherever possible, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 3 is a perspective diagram of an icemaker in a refrigeratoraccording to one embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is aperspective diagram of a backside of the icemaker shown in FIG. 3.

Referring to FIG. 3 and FIG. 4, an icemaker 10 includes an icemaker body11 making ice and a heater (cf. ‘h’ in FIG. 4) supplying heat tofacilitate ice detachment.

The icemaker body 11 includes an ice-making tray 12 and a loading flange13. The ice-making tray 12 is supplied with water from a water supplyhopper 21 to substantially make ice therein. At least one pair ofloading flanges 13 are provided to one side of the icemaker body 11 toenable the icemaker 10 to be loaded in a storage space of therefrigerator, e.g., in a freezing chamber in general.

Meanwhile, an ejector 15 can be provide to one side of the icemaker body11 corresponding to an upper side of the ice-making tray 12. The ejector15 is provided to take out the ice made by the ice-making tray 12. And,the ejector 15 is rotatably provided to the icemaker body 11.

A stripper 17 can be provided to the other side of the icemaker body 11to oppose the ejector 15. And, the stripper 17 plays a role inpreventing the ice from re-entering the ice-making tray 12 in the courseof taking out the ice made in the ice-making tray 12 using the ejector15.

Preferably, the heater h, as shown in FIG. 4, is provided to a bottom ofthe ice-making tray 12. The heater h provides heat to facilitate thedetachment of the ice made in the ice-making tray 12. In particular, incase that the ice is attached to the ice-making tray 12, the heat issupplied by the heater h to partially melt the ice. So, the ice can beeasily detached from the ice-making tray 12. The detached ice is thentaken out by the ejector 15.

The icemaker 11 body can include a housing 19. Various parts areinstalled within the housing 19. For example, a driving motor (not shownin the drawings) for driving the ice-making tray 12, the ejector 15 andthe like is installed within the housing 19.

Meanwhile, the water supply hopper 21 is provided to the icemaker body11. The water supply hopper 21 temporarily stores water supplied fromsuch an external water supply source as a tap or a water supply sourcesuch as a water tank (not shown in the drawings) provided to therefrigerator and then supplies the stored water to the ice-making tray12. And, the water supply hopper 21 is placed over the ice-making tray12 relatively. The water supply hopper 21 is configured to have ahexahedral shape of which topside and one lateral side are open. And,one end of a water supply hose (not shown in the drawings) connected tothe water supply source is fixed to the open one lateral side of thewater supply hopper 21.

As mentioned in the foregoing description, the above-configured icemakeris provided with the water supplied from the external water supplysource or the separate water supply source provided to the refrigeratorvia the water supply hose. And, the icemaker includes the water supplyhopper 21. Yet, in order to prevent water flowing within the watersupply hose from being frozen, the water supplied via the water supplyhose has a relatively high water pressure. So, it may happen that thewater supplied to the water supply hopper 21 via the water supply hosemay splash out of the water supply hopper 21 due to the high waterpressure. The splashing water is frozen onto an inside of therefrigerator to deteriorate a fine view and cause malfunctions of theinternal elements of the refrigerator.

So, an icemaker in a refrigerator according to another embodiment of thepresent invention includes a splash preventing unit to prevent water ofa water supply hopper from splashing, which is explained with referenceto the attached drawing as follows.

FIG. 5 is a perspective diagram of an icemaker in a refrigeratoraccording to another embodiment of the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 5, compared to the former embodiment of the presentinvention, an icemaker 30 in a refrigerator according to anotherembodiment of the present invention is characterized in including ahopper cover 45 constructing a splash preventing unit that preventswater from being splashed out of a water supply hopper 41. Thedifferences between the former and latter embodiments of the presentinvention are mainly explained as follows.

First of all, an open topside of the water supply hopper 41 isselectively opened/closed by the hopper cover 45. For this, the hoppercover 45 has a rectangular shape corresponding to the open topside ofthe water supply hopper 41.

The hopper cover 45 is detachably provided to open/close the opentopside of the water supply hopper 41. In particular, the hopper cover45 is provided rotatable within a range of a prescribed angle centeringon one later side of the water supply hopper 41 to be fixed thereto.Namely, the hopper cover 45 is fixed to the water supply hopper 41 byrotating at a prescribed angle centering on one lateral side of thewater supply hopper 41. In case of being separated from the water supplyhopper 41, the hopper cover 45 is separated by rotating at a prescribedangle. For this, the icemaker 30 in the refrigerator according to thepresent embodiment includes a rotational motion fixing part rotatablyfixing one end portion of the hopper cover 45 and a locking part lockingthe other end portion of the hopper cover 45.

In this case, the rotational motion fixing part can include at least onelocking projection 46 projected from one end portion of the hopper cover45 and a locking rib 42 having a locking recess 42 a opposing thelocking projection 46 to be provided to the water supply hopper 41.

In particular, the locking rib 42 is provided to each upper end of bothopposing lateral sides of the water supply hopper 41. The locking rib 42is provided to lock the hopper cover 45 to the water supply hopper 41.So, the locking rib 42 is provided to one side of each upper end of bothof the opposing lateral sides adjacent to one open lateral side of thewater supply hopper 41. And, the locking rib 42 is outwardly projectedfrom each of both of the opposing lateral sides of the water supplyhopper 41.

In this case, the locking rib 42 is configured to have a ‘

’ shape to have the locking recess 42 a therein. And, the lockingprojection 46 of the hopper cover 45 is fitted into the locking recess42 a. In particular, if the locking projection 46 is fitted into thelocking recess 42 a, the hopper cover 45 is rotatable at a prescribedangle. This will be explained in detail later.

A pair of the locking projections 46 are provided to one end portion ofthe hopper cover 45 corresponding to the locking ribs 42, respectively.The locking projection 46 extends from each of both end portions of oneside of the hopper cover 45 to configure a ‘

’ shape. When the hopper cover 45 closes the open topside of the watersupply hopper 41, a front end portion of the locking projection 42 isinserted in the locking recess 42 a.

Besides, the locking recess can be configured to have a circular shapewith a prescribed curvature. Yet, it may not be configured to have thecircular shape unlike FIG. 5. So, in order for the hopper cover 45 torotate at a prescribed angle, at least one of the locking projection 46and the locking rib 42 is formed of an elastic substance. If at leastone of the locking projection 46 and the locking rib 42 becomes elastic,it is elastically transformed to enable the rotational motion of thehopper cover 45.

And, an insertion recess 47 is provided to each of both of the opposinglateral sides of the hopper cover 45. So, the upper ends of the opposinglateral sides of the water supply hopper are inserted in the insertionrecesses 47, respectively. The insertion recess 47 is substantiallyconfigured with an inner side of the locking projection 46 and an outerside of a protruding member 49 that will be explained later.

Meanwhile, the locking part can include a locking hook 48 provided tothe other end portion of the hopper cover 45 and a locking piece 43provided to the water supply hopper 41 in correspondence to the lockinghook 48.

In particular, the locking piece 43 is provided to a center of an upperend of one side between a pair of the opposing lateral sides of thewater supply hopper 41. The locking piece 43 is projected outwardly fromone lateral side of the water supply hopper 41. A locking hole 44 isprovided to the locking piece 43 to be locked by the locking hook 48.

The locking hook 48 is provided to a position most distant from both ofthe later side end portions of the hopper cover 45 provided with thelocking projections 46, i.e., to a center of the other end portion ofthe hopper cover 45 corresponding to the opposite side of the lockingprojection. The locking hook 48 has prescribed elasticity and downwardlyextends from a bottom of the hopper cover 45 to be elastically locked tothe locking hole 44.

And, a front end of the locking hook 48 is provided with a holding sill48 a. Once the locking hook 48 is locked to the locking hole 44, theholding sill 48 a closely adheres to a bottom of the locking piece 43adjacent to the locking hole 44 to substantially play a role in lockingthem together.

Meanwhile, an elastic opening 48 b is provided to one side of the hoppercover 45 adjacent to the locking hook 48. The elastic opening 48 b playsa role in giving a prescribed elastic force to the locking hook 48 toenable the locking hook 48 to be elastically transformed in the courseof being locked to the locking hole 44.

Preferably, the protruding member 49 is provided to the bottom of thehopper cover 45 in the refrigerator icemaker according to the presentembodiment. While the hopper cover 45 closes the open topside of thewater supply hopper 41, the protruding member 49 plays a role in sealingthem.

In this case, the protruding member 49 is provided to both lateral sideend portions of the hopper cover 45 and end portions between both of thelateral side end portions of the hopper cover 45, i.e., to a positioninwardly spaced apart with a prescribed distance from a circumference ofthe hopper cover 45 provided with the locking projections 46 and thelocking hook 48. The protruding member 49 downwardly extends from thebottom of the hopper cover 45 to a prescribed length. So, once thehopper cover 45 covers the open topside of the water supply hopper 41,the protruding member 49 closely adheres to inner upper ends of both ofthe opposing lateral sides of the water supply hopper 41 and inner upperends of both sides between the opposing lateral sides of the watersupply hopper 41.

Meanwhile, the above-configured icemaker shown in FIG. 4 has a problemthat heat from the heater h enters the refrigerator. Namely, since theheater h, as shown in FIG. 4, is provided to a lower outside of theicemaker body 11, the heat generated from the heater h is supplied tothe inside of the refrigerator as well as the icemaker. Thus, once theheat generated from the heater h is supplied to the inside of therefrigerator, objects supposed to be stored at a low temperature areheated. Moreover, if the heat generated from the heater h is supplied tothe inside of the refrigerator, the refrigerator is overheated.

So, the refrigerator heater according to the present embodiment includesa heater shielding unit to prevent the heat generated from the heater hfrom entering the inside of the refrigerator. And, the heater shieldingunit is explained in detail with reference to the attached drawing asfollows.

FIG. 6 is a perspective diagram of a backside of the icemaker shown inFIG. 5, in which the heater shielding unit is shown.

Referring to FIG. 6, a heater H is provided to a bottom of an ice-makingtray 32. As mentioned in the foregoing description, the heater H isprovided to facilitate ice made in the ice-making tray 32 to be detachedfrom the ice-making tray 32. In particular, if the ice-making tray 32 isheated by the heater H, the ice melts in part to be easily detached fromthe ice-making tray 32 by a rotational motion of an ejector 35.Preferably, the heater H, as shown in the drawing, is configured to havea ‘U’ shape along a bottom circumference of the ice-making tray 32.

The refrigerator icemaker according to the present embodiment preferablyincludes a heater cover 51 as a heater shielding unit that prevents theheat generated from the heater H from entering the inside of therefrigerator.

The heater cover 51 is detachably fixed to the bottom of the ice-makingtray 32 and prevents the heat from the heater H from being externallydischarged out of the icemaker 30. So, the heat is prevented fromentering the inside of the refrigerator.

The heater cover 51 includes a cover body 53 accommodating the heater Htherein and a locking unit fixing the cover body 53 to the icemaker 30detachably.

Preferably, the cover body 53 is configured to have a ‘U’ shape to bematched to the shape of the heater H. The cover body 53 substantiallyplays a role in shielding the heater H. And, a loading recess 54 isprovided to the cover body 53 along an inside thereof to provide a spacefor loading the heater H therein. So, if the heater H is loaded in theloading recess 54 of the cover body 53 and if the cover body 53 isprovided to the bottom of the icemaker 30, the heater H is shielded notto be exposed from the icemaker 30. Preferably, the cover body 53includes an isolating member to effectively cut off heat generated fromthe heater H.

Meanwhile, the locking unit can include at least one locking rib 55provided to the cover body 53 to have a perforated hole 55 a and alocking member S passing through the perforated hole 55 a to be lockedto the icemaker body 41.

In FIG. 6, there are three locking ribs 55. and, the number of thelocking ribs is appropriately adjustable. Meanwhile, a locking hole 32 ais provided to the bottom of the ice-making tray 32 in correspondence tothe locking rib 55.

And, a screw S forming the locking member is locked to the locking hole32 a. In the drawing, three locking holes 32 a are provided to thebottom of the ice-making tray 32 in correspondence to the locking ribs55. So, as the screws S pass through the perforated holes 55 a of thelocking ribs 55 to be locked to the locking holes 32 a, respectively,the cover body 53 is fixed to the bottom of the ice-making tray 32.

Besides, an unexplained reference number ‘39’ in FIG. 5 or FIG. 6indicates a housing. As mentioned in the foregoing description, variousparts including a driving motor (not shown in the drawings) for drivingan ejector 35 and the like are installed within the housing 39.

A process for making ice in a refrigerator icemaker according to apreferred embodiment of the present invention is explained as follows.

First of all, water is supplied to the water supply hopper 41 from anexternal water supply source or a separate water supply source withinthe refrigerator.

The supplied water is then delivered to the ice-making tray 32 from thewater supply hopper 41. In this case, since the open topside of thewater supply hopper 41 is shielded by the hopper copper 45, the watersupplied from the water supply hose with a relatively high waterpressure can be prevented from splashing out of the water supply hopper41.

Meanwhile, the water delivered to the ice-making tray 32 is frozen intoice by the cold air within the refrigerator. After completion of makingice, the ice is detached from the ice-making tray 32 by the heatgenerated from the heater H provided under the ice-making tray 32. Indoing so, the heater H is shielded by the heater cover 51. So, while theheater H generates the heat to separate the ice from the ice-making tray32, it is able to prevent a user from being burnt by the heat of theheater H or protect the cool or frozen storage of food against the heatdelivered to the inside of the refrigerator.

After the ice has been made, it is taken out of the ice-making tray 32by a rotational motion of the ejector 35. In doing so, the taken-out iceis prevented from re-entering the ice-making tray 32 owing to thestripper 37.

Subsequently, the ice taken out of the ice-making tray 32 is stored inthe ice bank (cf. ‘144’ in FIG. 2) under the ice-making tray 32. thestored ice is then supplied to the taking-out part of the dispenser (cf.‘130’ in FIG. 1) by the transferring device cf. ‘146’ in FIG. 2).

A process for assembling the hopper cover to the water supply hopperaccording to a preferred embodiment of the present invention isexplained in detail as follows.

First of all, the hopper cover 45 is moved toward the open topside ofthe water supply hopper 41 to be slant at a prescribed angle in order toinsert the locking projection 46 to be inserted in the locking recess 42a of the water supply hopper 41. In this case, each of the upper endportions of the both of the lateral sides of the water supply hopper 41starts to be inserted in the insertion recess 47 provided between thelocking projection 46 and the protruding member 49 of the hopper cover45.

Subsequently, the locking projection 46 is inserted in the lockingrecess 42 a and each of both of the later side upper end portions of thewater supply hopper 41 is inserted in the insertion recess 47. The otherend of the hopper cover 45 is then rotated at a prescribed anglecentering on one end portion of the hopper cover 45 provided with thelocking projections 46 and the insertion recesses 47. If so, the hoppercover 45 rotates centering on one end portion to gradually shield theopen topside of the water supply hopper 41.

Meanwhile, if the hopper cover 45 keeps rotating centering on the oneend portion, the other end portion of the hopper cover 45 closely adhereto the upper circumference of the water supply hopper 41 as soon as theprotruding member 49 closely adheres to the inner surface of the watersupply hopper 41. And, the locking hook 48 of the hopper cover 45 iselastically locked to the locking hole 44 of the water supply hopper 41.In this case, as the holding sill 48 a of the locking hook 48 closelyadheres to the bottom of the locking piece 43 adjacent to the lockinghole 44, the locking hook 48 elastically locked to the locking hole 44is prevented from being released from the elastic locking status.

Accordingly, the present invention provides the following effects oradvantages.

First of all, since a heater facilitating detachment of ice made in anice-making tray is shielded by a heater cover, a user is prevented frombeing burnt by heat of the heater. Hence, a user is able to use arefrigerator more safely.

Secondly, since a heater is shielded by a heater cover, it is able tominimize heat of a heater to be transferred to an inside of arefrigerator. Hence, it is able to prevent cooling or freezingefficiency from being lowered by the increasing temperature within therefrigerator due to the heat of the heater.

Thirdly, a topside of a water supply hopper is shielded by a hoppercover to prevent water from splashing via the topside of the watersupply hopper. So, the water splashing output of the water supply hopperis not frozen into ice or frost within a refrigerator. Hence, it is ableto use the refrigerator more sanitarily.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodifications and variations can be made in the present inventionwithout departing from the spirit or scope of the inventions. Thus, itis intended that the present invention covers the modifications andvariations of this invention provided they come within the scope of theappended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A refrigerator comprising: a main body having acompartment; a door selectively opening and closing the compartment; anicemaker disposed on the door; wherein the icemaker comprises: an icemaking tray having a locking hole in a bottom wall thereof; a watersupply hopper mounted on the ice making tray; a hopper cover detachablycoupled to the water supply hopper to open and close a top side of thewater supply hopper; a heater that contacts a bottom surface of theicemaker tray; a heater shielding unit having a perforated hole; and ascrew passing through the perforated hole and the locking hole to couplethe heater shielding unit to the ice making tray.
 2. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 1, wherein the hopper cover is rotatably attached tothe hopper.
 3. The refrigerator according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a rotational motion fixing part provided to one end portionof the hopper cover; and a locking part provided to the other endportion of the hopper cover.
 4. The refrigerator according to claim 3,wherein the rotational motion fixing part comprises: a lockingprojection projected from the one end portion of the hopper cover; and alocking rib provided to the water supply hopper to have a locking recessin correspondence to the locking projection.
 5. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 4, wherein at least one of the locking projection andthe locking rib is formed of an elastic substance.
 6. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 5, wherein the locking projection is formed of anelastic substance.
 7. The refrigerator according to claim 5, wherein thelocking rib is formed of an elastic substance.
 8. The refrigeratoraccording to claim 3, wherein the locking part comprises: a locking hookprovided to the other end portion of the hopper cover; and a lockingpiece provided to the water supply hopper in correspondence to thelocking hook.
 9. The refrigerator according to claim 8, wherein thelocking part further comprises, an elastic unit configured to give anelastic force if the locking hook is selectively fixed to the lockingpiece.
 10. The refrigerator according to claim 9, wherein the elasticunit comprises an elastic opening provided to one side of the hoppercover adjacent to the locking hook.
 11. The refrigerator according toclaim 1, wherein the water supply hopper includes an open lateral sidesuch that the water is supplied to the water supply hopper via the openlateral side.
 12. The refrigerator according to claim 1, furthercomprising: a protruding member provided to a bottom of the hopper coverin correspondence to an upper end of the water supply hopper to preventwater from being discharged from the water supply hopper via the opentopside of the water supply hopper.